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Female long-tailed mealybug on the
ornamental plant Ruscus (magnification
64x). Photo © Rebeccah Waterworth.
the
long-tailed mealybug Pseudococcus
longispinus.
Overall, each species has distinct
biological characteristics that result in
differences in geographic/climatic
ranges, host preferences, economic
injury, and approaches to management.
Until recently, vineyard managers
had no simple and effective
methods for monitoring these mealybug
species.
It had been known for some time
that sessile mature female mealybugs
of all four species produced sex
pheromones to attract tiny, winged
males for mating. In 2001, University
of California researchers Jocelyn
Millar, Kent Daane, and Walt Bentley
began a project to identify these
pheromones so that they could be
developed for use as trap lures, in the
same way that many lepidopteran
pests are now monitored with pheromone
traps.
The team first identified a pheromone
for vine mealybug (in 2002), and
it was immediately adopted for use in
detecting new infestations as vine
mealybug continued to spread into
new areas of California. Since then, the
team has identified the pheromones of
the other three species.
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Jocelyn Millar, Dept. of Entomology,
University of California, Riverside, CA,
Rebeccah Waterworth,
Dept. of Entomology, University of
California, Riverside, CA,
Walt Bentley, Kearney Agriculture
Center, Parlier, CA,
Kent Daane, Dept. of Environmental
Science, Policy, & Management,
University of California, Berkeley, CA,
Vaughn Walton, Dept. of Horticulture,
Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR,
Monica Cooper, University of California
Cooperative Extension, Napa, CA
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ver the past decade, economic
losses from mealybug
infestations in California
vineyards have increased
dramatically. In addition to damage
caused by the buildup of sooty mold
on mealybug-excreted honeydew and
insect detritus in bunches, mealybugs
are also responsible for vectoring
grapevine leafroll viruses that decrease
yield and reduce winegrape quality.
The four most important mealybug
species are the recently introduced and
highly invasive vine mealybug Planococcus
ficus, the grape mealybug
Pseudococcus maritimus, the obscure
mealybug Pseudococcus viburni, and 
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Suterra “Checkmate” pheromone dispenser
for VMB mating disruption. Photo by Don Neel.
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